Crime & Safety

Cops: Scheming Realtors Rent, Try to Sell Home Not Even on the Market

A woman who turned over $24,000 as a deposit to rent a home in New Canaan helped police unravel a bizarre story involving a realtor who had no authority to rent the home for its owners, who lived out of state. 

According to Sgt. Carol Ogrinc, the victim showed up at the police station on November 6, 2012. She had been renting a home on Braeburn Drive, she told police, but lawyers had shown up at the house on the heels of Hurricane Sandy to inspect the house for damage on behalf of the home owners and were surprised to discover someone living there. 

The victim told police she'd signed a lease in August with real estate agent Ruth Jones, 56, of 75 Beacon Hill Road, to rent the home for $6,000 a month, putting down two months rent and two months security deposit to seal the deal. 

Only Jones had no authority to make decisions about the home, Ogrinc said, let alone rent it out. According to Ogrinc, the home owners had hired Jones on May 26, 2011, on a six-month contract to sell the home for $795,000.  She had been unable to finalize any deals during that time period and was supposed to have ended her involvement with the property. 

Jones' contract with the owners would have ended November 27, 2011. The representation in November decided to discontinue Jones' involvement with the home and took the house off the market, Ogrinc said. But she continued to list the home on her website anyway, according to Ogrinc, and advertised it for $1,369,000. She hosted the house on her website in both February and August of 2012. 

The home was also listed on Jones' website for rent at a cost of $6,000 in August of 2012, which is when the victim reportedly signed a lease for the home. Records indicated Jones showed the house to potential buyers between November of 2011 and September 2012 a total of 27 times, Ogrinc said. 

The victim began to notice something was off with the deal when Jones allegedly told her that if anyone asked her if she was renting the home, she was supposed to inform them she was living their as the interior decorator and "staging" the home, Ogrinc said, a practice based in data that suggests homes that look lived-in sell better on the market. When the lawyers representing the property's home owners showed up and found someone living there, they had the locks changed. 

Now, during that time, Jones' son, Adam Jones, 29, of 76 Lakeview Avenue, worked for Property Management, LLC, alongside Linda Silvestro, 55, of 31 Father Peters Lane. The trio allegedly concocted a scheme to purchase the home at the asking price and sell it for the increased amount Jones had been listing on her website. Signing the property over as owners also meant the Silvestro and Adam Jones would have had authority to rent the home, a defense the group tried to use while talking to police, Ogrinc said, but a point invalidated by the fact that Ruth Jones had no right to sell the home. 

In September of 2012, Silvestro and Adam Jones signed paperwork with Ruth Jones and put a downpayment on the house for $30,000, but that deal fell through. On October 12, 2012, a new contract was signed with a new deposit of $50,000 and a new closing date, this time with Silvestro's husband Santo also signing the paperwork, but the new deal ended up being delayed by the hurricane, Ogrinc said, and provided the attorneys the opportunity to discover what had been going on in the absence of the owners. 

Silvestro claimed to police that she had no idea the home was being rented out illegally and that her signature had been forged by Jones, who had no authority to sign documents in her name. However, Ogrinc said documentation was discovered during the course of the investigation that showed Silvestro willingly gave Jones authority to sign paperwork in her name and knew Jones would be filing paperwork on her behalf. Ogrinc said a number of inconsistencies occurred in interviews with Silvestro during the course of the investigation.

Additionally, Ogrinc said the funds used as a deposit on the home were withdrawn from a Property Management, LLC, account and moved to another account but that the group was not supposed to have accessed those funds. The $24,000 obtained from the renter had also been placed into a Property Management, LLC, account, Ogrinc said, and not an account that had been set up for the estate. 

Oginc said Ruth Jones explained to police that, as contract buyers for the home, Silvestro had given Jones permission to rent the home out and that was why she had allowed someone to live there. Ogrinc also said, at the time Jones was showing the home, she was a licensed real estate agent but had let her broker license lapse, which would have been the only way she would have been allowed to sell the home. Ogrinc said Jones claimed she was operating under another real estate company under which she operated with a brokerage license. 

Ogrinc said Ruth and Adam Jones and Linda Silvestro all turned themselves into police on August 19, 2013, after learning of warrants issued for their arrest. 

Ruth Jones was charged with first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny second-degree forgery and third-degree burglary. 

Adam Jones was charged with first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny. 

Silvestro was charged with first-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny and second-degree providing a false statement. 

All three posted $50,000 bonds and were given court dates of August 29, 2013.


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